New Beginnings
by filmsndfx
Summary: Luke reconsiders his small town life and his on again off again relationship with Lorelai.


Luke put the coffee pot back on the burner. He paused for moment, staring at the cups of coffee in his hands. This is what he said he wanted, a small diner in a small town, the captain of his own ship. Yes, that's what he said he wanted. He turned to deliver the coffee running directly into a body standing close behind him almost spilling the coffee.

"Kirk!" Luke exclaimed.

"Luke, someone is sitting at my table." Kirk said flatly.

"You don't have a table, Kirk, nobody has a table here." Luke stepped to the side to maneuver past Kirk who continued to block him from passing.

"For the last twenty days I have sat right there," Kirk pointed to an empty table next to the front window, "and the letters from the sign on your window perfectly blocked the sun so it wouldn't hurt my eyes when I ate."

"So sit there now." Luke's sighed, his patience wearing thin.

"I can't."

Luke hung his head, defeated. "Why?"

"The sun has moved. It used to be perfectly lined up with the L, but now it's moved behind the U. I have to now sit at that table, which has a better shadow from the U." Kirk pointed to the adjacent table where a young couple sat, waiting for their coffee from Luke.

"I can't deal with this." Luke pushed past Kirk to deliver the coffee he had poured. Kirk followed like a lost puppy, refusing to accept Luke's brush off.

Luke pulled out an ordering pad from his back pocked and a pen from behind his ear. "Can I get you something to eat?" he said to the couple, trying to ignore Kirk hovering behind him.

The man at the table put down his menu and looked past Luke to Kirk.

"Ignore him. Can I get you something to eat?" Luke said again.

"Um, I don't think so, coffee is fine." The man said.

Luke looked from the man to the woman. She shook her head.

"Fine." He snatched the menus from the table and headed back toward the kitchen.

"They're not even getting food!" Kirk whined.

"They don't have to get food Kirk to sit at that table."

"But they're wasting a good shadow on coffee.

Luke spun around sticking his index finger straight in Kirk's face. "Kirk, either sit at another table or go home."

"Well, if that's the way you feel." Kirk retorted.

"Go."

Kirk turned and headed for the door. He stopped to stare at the couple at the table.

"Now, Kirk." Luke insisted.

Kirk turned and huffed as he headed out the door. In his haste he bumped squarely into Lorelai and Rory. "Slow down, cowboy" Lorelai exclaimed.

"He's impossible" Kirk blurted.

"Okay." Lorelai said, confused. The girls parked themselves at two stools and plopped their giant coffee mugs in synch on the counter. "Filler up my boy!" Lorelai said in a horrible British accent.

"And I'll have a cherry tart." Rory chimed in with her own invented accent.

Luke pulled the pot from the coffee maker and turned to the girls. They held their cups up, both playfully pouting. "More please." Lorelai said feigning to be Tiny Tim.

"What is wrong with you people today?" Luke sneered.

"What's with the tone?" Lorelai poked.

"I don't have a tone." Luke replied.

"Yes you do."

"No. I don't."

"I heard a tone." Rory added flatly.

"There is no tone." Luke insisted, "And I don't don't have cherry tarts either."

"Donuts?" Rory asked sheepishly.

Luke grabbed a pair of tongs and snagged a donut from a glass display on the counter. He slapped a napkin down in front of Rory and set the donut down.

"No sprinkles?" Rory complained. Luke shot her look. Rory quickly grabbed the donut and took a bite. "Yum. Delicious." She smiled.

"So captain happy, what gives?" Lorelai prodded.

Luke sighed. "Nothing."

"That's not a nothing-nothing, mister, that's a something-nothing." Lorelai pressed, "Come on, man, spill the beans. What's got your knickers in a bunch?"

Luke pulled up his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. "I just, I just need to -" He was interrupted by the diner door flying open.

"Luke! Quick, I need your help!"

"T. J.? What's wrong?" Luke said concerned.

"It's Liz. You gotta come now."


End file.
